Nelson bill makes sense

To his McCook friends and former classmates, Ben Nelson is still like the boy next door. He's friendly, thoughtful and attentive, making a conscientious effort to remember special people and special occasions.

To sum it up, Ben's thought of as a genuinely nice guy in McCook, Nebraska, the town where he was born, raised and returns often. Viewed from this hometown perspective, it is striking to see how high Ben has risen on the political horizon.

Entering the fifth year of his first term in the U.S. Senate, Nelson gained national attention this past week by being named one of "The New Power Players" on Capitol Hill. In the article in Newsweek Magazine, much is made of the White House's attempt to have Nelson, a Democrat, change his party affiliation to the Republicans.

In its Jan. 24 edition, Newsweek reports, "For months the White House tried to persuade him to switch parties, with rides on Air Force One and personal appeals from (Sen. Bill) Frist and (Rep. Trent) Lott."

Newsweek also talks of Nelson's pivotal role in legislation, particularly efforts to revise Social Security, and of the appointment of Mike Johanns, the former Nebraska governor, as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. In the magazine's view, the White House did Nelson a favor by appointing Johanns, as Johanns would have been Nelson's likely opponent in the 2006 Senate race if he had not taken the ag post.

This all adds up to a prominent national role and quite a bit of attention for the McCook boy who has climbed the ladder of political success, winning election as both Nebraska's governor and U.S. Senator.

Nelson's efforts on behalf of rural America continue. On Monday of this week, Sen. Nelson introduced legislation to help rural communities comply with the federal unfunded mandate on arsenic in drinking water. Called the Rural Community Arsenic Relief Act of 2005, the legislation would help rural communities deal with what Nelson calls the "burdensome and in some cases crippling costs" to comply with Environmental Protection Agency requirements. The EPA rule reduces arsenic levels from the current level of 50 parts per billion to 10 parts per billion.

The costs to do this can be staggering, as shown by the experiences of towns in the Republican Valley which are trying to comply.

Under the plan, rural towns with less than 10,000 population would be given more time to comply with the arsenic rule, with the 10 parts per billion standard not going into full effect until 2016.

This is common sense legislation. Although Nelson is regarded as one of the nation's "New Power Players," it's good to see he hasn't forgotten the folks back home.